"Removing glued staffs spears without damaging painted minis" Topic

I gorilla and crazy glued (I think I used the sticky gels} wire flag staffs to painted hands; the sort of hands which are not open faced but rather drilled holes.

Of course, now that I have a better quality flag source , I want to change them. Has anyone found a way to dislodge wire flag staffs or spears without damaging the underlying paint job?

Freezing may work. The glue becomes more brittle and you may be able to separate the pieces.
However, I think damage to the hand or the flag staff or both is inevitable. It may be easier to cut the staff on either side of the hand and re-drill the hole.

Depending on the flag material, wouldn't it be easier to just remove and replace the flag and touchup the flagstaff if needed?

The "sheer strength" of Super Glues is very low -- twisting the spear shafts within the hands of the figures should free them. Place some thin rubber between the spears and some needle nose pliers, grip, and twist, firmly. The spear shafts should break loose, with minimal effort, and virtually no damage. DO NOT PULL, JUST TWIST! This will sheer the weak bonds. Then, you should be able to pull them out.

Otherwise, the cut off, and drill the hand technique is a valid alternative. Cheers!

Nail varnish remover will weaken and dissolve overnight most "super glues"

alan in canberra is correct: nail polish remover, aka, acetone, will dissolve Super Glue. I believe it will also dissolve most types of paint. Careful application may get the job done, but some re-painting will likely be required -- no matter which method you employ. Cheers!

What are the old flags made from? If paper, can you not just soak them off, leaving the flag staff attached for use with the new flags?

As Sgt Slag pointed out – twisting. I paint my mounted figures by drilling a hole in their butts and super gluing the to a wire. I removed the simply by twisting.